Dimensional Shift
by The Turn Coat
Summary: While doing his best to take down a big bad, Xander falls through a portal and ends up in another dimension. Can a certain Wizard PI help him get back or is he trapped forever? No pairings
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own any of the rights to either 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'The Dresden Files'. I am making no money from this story. _

* * *

Dimensional Shift

Chapter One

"There's a proper way to patrol?" Xander had asked when he'd been roped into training new slayers on the proper way to patrol. He had also tried pulling the 'I only have one eye' card. Giles had cleaned his glasses; Xander still had to go on patrol with the baby slayers until they were ready to be 'full' slayers, with just meant that they probably weren't going to get themselves killed if left to their own devices.

Tonight Xander was patroling the back alleys of Cleveland with a girl Willow had found in Maine. Her name was Kathy and she didn't particularly like Xander all that much.

"We're out here every night," She said in an annoyed voice as she flipped her stake up in the air. "Nothing ever happens. I've staked one vamp in the whole night. Can't we patrol somewhere else or you know just go back to the house?"

"The reason you've only staked one vampire is _because_ we patrol this area. We've got other girls on the rest of the city. Tonight it's our job to patrol this part. And remember, you can never let your guard down. Just because things seem quiet doesn't mean that some big bad isn't waiting right around the corner to rip your face off," Xander said with complete seriousness, tightening his grip on the handle of the battle ax he'd brought with him for the night. It was one of his smaller ones, but it still packed quite a punch.

Kathy heaved a sigh, "You always say that and nothing ever happ-"

She was cut off by a loud scream coming from an alley off to their side. They both took off toward the screaming.

"This is why we don't complain when things are quiet!" Xander said as he ran. Kathy outstripped him to reach the source of the screaming and Xander lost sight of her around a corner. The screaming woman ran past him a few seconds later. She didn't look any worse for wear. Well, except for the screaming.

"Run, oh my God you need to run. Demons run!" She managed to gasp out as she ran past not slowing down in the least to make sure that he took advice. It was a smart move because he _didn't_ take her advice and continued running in the direction she had come from. Xander rounded the last corner to see Kathy already engaged in battling several vaguely human looking demons in grey suits. He could see more of them spilling from what looked like a hole ripped out of thin air.

"Damn it Kathy," Xander growled. He hadn't been able to quell the slayer's urge to leap into a fight without looking. That was something he knew could and would get her killed. He pulled out his cell phone a quickly as he could; they needed backup _now_.

Everyone in the council, watchers _and_ slayers were required to carry cell phones at all times. Xander had thought it was a great idea, now that they actually had some money to afford them. He loved the idea of the cell phones but apparently they didn't like the idea of him. He had gone through almost twice as many phones as any of the angry hormonal slayers. It wasn't his fault he always just seemed to get duds that fizzled out at the most inopportune times. Like right now.

"Crap," Xander said as he looked down at the black screen of his phone. He'd just charged it. He shoved it back into his pocket hoping maybe there was enough for someone to be able to track it, not that anyone would be looking for them. They weren't scheduled for a check in for a few more hours. They didn't have hours; they didn't really have many minutes either if the growing number of grey suited demons was any indicator.

"Kathy, do you have your phone?" Xander shouted as he hefted his favorite ax and advance toward the fighting, cutting the head off the first demon he reached. It dissolved into some kind of clear liquid that seemed to be evaporating when it hit the ground. Weird.

"I'm kind of busy now Xander. I can't exactly reach for it!" Kathy yelled, never pausing in her slashing and kicks, "Where's your's?"

"Dead," Xander grunted as a suit got a punch in on his side before he managed to slash it across the chest.

"Again?"

"Normally I'm all for the banter,"Xander said pushing a suit back with the handle of the ax,"But we really need backup. A phone call would be of the good!"

"Yeah, well I'm telling you, it's not going to happen right now!" Kathy yelled angrily as she slashed out with her short sword.

Xander didn't even try to reply, he was too busy trying not to get over run by the strange demons. He really needed to get that portal closed if they were going to have any chance at getting out of this alive. He glanced over at the hole in the air and noticed first the first time that there was a man standing near beside it. He, or she Xander's inner Willow added, was wearing a dark red cloak with a hood that completely obscured his, or her, face, but he was holding a staff that Xander could see was glowing slightly. He turned briefly toward Kathy and yelled, "I don't think these are real demons!"

"They sure _feel _like real demons!" Kathy yelled back in aggravation.

"They're summonings! We need to take out the sorcerer," Xander said trying to make his way to the sorcerer that was hopefully the one causing the portal, but with the horde of grey suits between them Xander didn't see that happening.

"Looks like you could use some help!" came Faith's voice. Xander grinned, but didn't turn to look at her. He could hear the clash of more fighting as Faith and her group of trainees joined in. The horde in front of him spread out to take on the new threats. It gave Xander enough space to cut his way to the sorcerer who, Xander grinned when he realized, had set up the portal against a wall with no doors or windows. The grey suits and slayers were blocking his only exit. The sorcerer was trapped.

"Hey, buddy," Xander said when he reached the red cloaked sorcerer, "I think it's time to shut this thing down." Xander jerked his head toward the portal, his ax still held before him.

"Why would I want to do that?" Came a voice that sounded like it belonged to a teenage boy," I have an endless supply of creatures who only what to help me"

"Because if you don't those girls fighting? They're going to finish cutting _through_ your helpful friends and come after_ you_. And trust me you don't want to get on the wrong side of a slayer and there's a lot more than one fighting."

Xander couldn't see the kids face, but he could see his shoulders stiffen up. The kid was probably scared out of his mind of course that didn't stop him from doing the stupid thing and swinging the glowing staff right at Xander's head. Xander brought up his ax and cut the staff cleanly in half. The kid went down with the extra momentum just as one of the suits reached Xander's blind spot to hit his side, causing the one-eyed watcher to stumble forward, trip over the cloaked boy on the ground and fall head first through the portal that already seemed to be getting smaller, even as he moved closer to it.

He didn't really feel much as he passed through, but he did feel the face full of snow he got as he landed. Thankful that at least he had landed in something soft. Xander was already rolling to his feet as he landed and turned back around just in time to see the portal wink out of existence.

"Great," Xander said staring off past where the portal had been to see a field of snow and a tree line that was completely void of leaves. There was still more snow falling, but he didn't see any of the grey suits that had been coming through, "I'm stuck in a hell dimension. A _hell _dimension with snow," Xander shivered to himself as scritching noise came from behind him. Whipping around to see giant spiders making their way from the leafless forest where Xander could now see vast white webs in the branches, "and giant spiders. It feels just like home."

"Halt man-thing," A spider in the front of the group said. They were each about the size of a pony, with smooth bodies and sharp edges. They were nothing like the hairy imitations that had appeared in the Harry Potter movies; these were real and Xander had no doubt that any one of them would be able to reach him in no time with their long agile looking legs. But what was most disturbing to see was that between two fanged mandibles dripping with a milky colored venom lay a human like mouth.

"Yeah, I'm halting… giant talking spider. I think I took a wrong turn somewhere. The snow's a little distracting," Xander said trying not to offend the group of giant spiders as he backed away. There was no way he'd be able to get past all of them.

"Halt, intruder of the Winter Queen's forests," the spider said, "Halt, he whose blood shall feed us."

"Whoa, hey no need for that!" Xander said, "No feeding on my blood, how about you just point me to the way out of your queen's forest and we won't have to resort to violence." Xander hefted up his axe and tried his best to look as menacing as he possibly could against nearly a dozen pony sized human mouthed spiders.

The air was filled with the strange clicking once again. Xander did his best not to shudder at the sound.

"Man-thing, carries such small weapon," one of the spiders twittered.

"I've taken down bigger things than you with less," Xander said loudly.

"Man-things speak often with a false tongue. A boast," the spider said as it lunged toward him. Xander barely had time to swing out with his axe, severing two of the great spider's legs. It screeched in pain as it fell to the ground, green-white fire springing up from its wounds.

"Man-thing has brought the bane," One spider hissed.

"Even if he has the bane, mortal has warm blood to fill our bellies," another said further into Xander's blind side. They were surrounding him. He hadn't even heard them moving. Xander silently cursed Caleb once more for taking his eye and leaving him unable to fully see his surroundings.

He could only assume that 'the bane' that they kept mentioning had something to do with the green-white fire his axe had seemed to leave behind. Xander twisted around to his left already swinging his ax as he sensed some kind of movement far into his blind spot. The ax struck something before he had even finished turning to see what. The axe that Xander had swung blindly was buried fairly deep below the spider's multiple eyes and at the beginning its very large set of fangs. Fangs that missed piercing Xander by only a few inches. He would have thought himself lucky if he didn't know that there were at least five other spiders surrounding that wanted to eat him. He yanked the ax from where it was buried in the spider's now smoldering face and turned back to the other spiders, there were six Xander mentally corrected himself, who were making the clicking noises again. He braced himself as several of the spiders bent their legs ready to leap toward him. He wasn't going to get out of this, two of the spiders were already in the air when Xander heard a shout from somewhere behind him.

"Forzare!" and the two leaping spiders were thrown aside as if by an invisible force sending them forcibly into tree trunks with a sickening crunch. Neither of the spiders got back up from the blow they just lay heaped on the ground, their legs twitching.

Xander turned to face what had taken out the spiders.

"Wizard," a spider hissed to the tall, close to seven feet if Xander had to guess, man wearing a leather duster and carrying a big stick. Staff, stick, same thing. The staff looked like it might be taller than Xander too.

"Wizards of the White Council have been granted permission to walk these paths!," The man said his voice filled with menace.

"The man-thing is no wizard, mortal. He is an intruder"

"He has brought cold iron!"

"Whoa, hey that wasn't on purpose. Not that I'd rather not have my nifty ax, but I didn't mean to come here. There was much tripping and confusion involved and then snow, I'm not dressed for snow!" Xander said jerking his chin down to his now dirty t-shirt.

"He's with me," the Wizard said, "I am not an intruder, and he is my guest"

"The man-thing lies," A spider hissed

"Careful," the Wizard growled "I've already had to deal with you once, I don't think Mab would approve you harassing members the White Council."

The spiders chittered for a minute before, "Let the wizard and his guest pass," The remaining spiders started dragging their fallen back into the tree. It looked like they were going to get a warm meal after all. The man, wizard apparently, watched the spiders retreated completely into the wood before turning his gaze to Xander.

"Bringing iron into Faerie?" The man said, "Not the brightest move you could have made, patches."

"Faerie?" Xander asked lowering his ax to his side, "Is that where I am?"

The man's eyes widened with surprise before looking to the woods again and then turning away.

"We should start moving before something else come along," He said before walking off with long legged strides. When given the choice between a man that might end up killing him and spiders that certainly would, Xander immediately started following after the wizard. He had to jog a little to catch up.

"So, do I get a name, designation, something to call you?" Xander asked. The man gave him a sidelong glance as they continued to walk through the snow.

"Harry Dresden."

"Xander Harris," Xander replied with a grin. Neither of them let go of their weapons to shake hands; caution was everyman's friend and trust needed to be earned. Xander was really hoping that this Harry Dresden earned it because caution only went so far before you needed a friend at your back. The cold settled in as he realized that this was the first time he wouldn't be able to call to his friends for help. All he had was an ax, a wizard named Harry (really?), and snow. Lots of snow.

He really wished he'd worn a coat.

* * *

_AN: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' has been mentioned several times through out the Dresden Files. In this story the series doesn't exist so there will be no references in the story about Buffy being a TV show. Also, this story is based on the Dresden BOOKS not the terrible TV show (sorry, to those who liked the show). _


	2. Chapter 2

_I do not own any of the rights to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'The Dresden Files' and am making no money from this story. There are references to 'Herbie', 'Harry Potter', and 'Start Trek'; I don't own any of the rights to those either._

* * *

**Dimensional Shift**

Chapter Two

...

"So, where exactly are we going?" Xander asked trying his best not to let his teeth chatter from the cold. The snow that had been collecting on his shirt was melting from his body heat and already soaking into his t-shirt.

"There's only a few spots in the Nevernever that I know exactly where they link up to. We're going to the space that links to Chicago," Dresden said as if it should make complete sense to Xander.

"Okay, pretend I have no idea what you're talking about," Xander said before changing his mind, "Except you don't really have to pretend. I have no idea what you talking about. Where are we?"

"Faerie. We're in Faerie," Harry said not slowing down from the fast pace he had set. Though it probably didn't seem fast to the man; he practically had stilts for legs.

"Faerie," Xander said before he was cut off by a body racking shudder from the freezing cold wind. Despite the warmth his body was creating due to the fast pace that Dresden had set the cold was starting to overpower the huge rush of adrenaline that has flooded his system earlier, "They were fairy spiders?" His voice was starting to sound tight as the cold reached his chest but that didn't stop him from trying to force out the joke. You could tell a lot about a man from his sense of humor.

"Yeah, I guess they were," Dresden said with a grin, you could tell a lot about a man from their sense of humor. "We're almost there," He added

Maybe the guy wasn't so bad thought Xander. He actually sounded concerned about the fact that Xander was walking through a snow storm in only a t-shirt.

"W-will we g-et th-there before my fingers st-start falling off?" Xander managed to say through the shivering.

"I think you're fingers will be safe," Dresden said, "We're here."

'Here' was a spot that looked exactly like all of the other spots that they had trudged through; Xander was too cold to come up with a witty comment about this fact. His jaw was starting to feel like it was seizing up from how hard he was clenching his mouth shut. He simply watched as the wizard used his staff to open up the same type of portal that he had fallen through earlier, just a rip hanging in thin air. He couldn't make out what was on the other side. It just looked like a black hole. For all he knew this thing was going to drop him off in another fairy spider infested dimension. Xander looked over to Dresden who seemed to sense his skepticism despite all of the shivering.

"I'll go first, just walk in after me. There's a slight step down," the wizard said glancing at Xander, before stepping through the portal. Xander watched as Dresden disappeared through the portal. For a moment Xander just stood looking at the portal not sure if he really wanted to follow after, then another body-racking shiver hit him and he was decided. A black hole was better than freezing to death and then getting eaten by giant spiders. He kept his eye open as he stepped through, but he didn't see any strange lights or noises. It was as if he were just walking through a normal door. Xander found that the reason the portal had looked like a black hole was because it led into a dark alley that didn't have any lights to fight of the night that had fallen, again. Maybe he was back where he had started; it had been night in Cleveland. As Xander was taking all this in, he failed to notice the small step down… as he stumbled down and almost fell forward.

"I told you there was a slight step down," Harry said sounding amused. He was holding up some kind of pendant that that was giving off a bright bluish white light that illuminated a good portion of the alley. It was dingy and the two buildings on either side looked like they were some sort of warehousing. The most noticeable difference however was the fact that there was no longer any snow falling on him. The change in temperature didn't affect him immediately; the freezing cold water that had soaked into his shirt stopped whatever warmth there was before it could help with his shivering.

"S-so, now where are we?" Xander said rolling his shoulders and shaking out his arms in an attempt to warm himself up, careful not to swing the ax in anyway that could appear threatening, though he doubted that he could look threatening right now; in soaked clothes, shivering like a wet kitten. "And can I maybe get a change of clothes? Preferably dry clothes."

"We're in Chicago," Dresden said. He had a serious look on his face. "What were you doing in the Nevernever?" He asked sternly.

"Never Never? I thought it was Faerie?"

"It has two names, they're the same thing. What were you doing there?"

"It was an accident, like I told the spiders. I tripped through a portal some bad-guy-of-the-week opened up. You said Chicago, as in Illinois of the United States?"

"It's the only one I know of," the man replied though Xander got the impression that he had wanted to say something else.

"There's actually a Chicago in Guatemala," Xander said helpfully, it was one of the few facts that Willow had brought back from South America, or rather Mesoamerica as Willow had so helpfully crushed into his brain, that he had actually remembered.

"Really?" Harry asked. He actually sounded interested.

"Yup. So, are there shrimp here?" Xander asked before that wizard could say anything else. He was still freezing cold but his jaw seemed to have come unstuck.

"Right here? No, I don't see any. Are you seeing shrimp right now?" Dresden said making a show of looking around him.

"No, not right here," Xander said rolling his eyes, "I mean in general. There are shrimp right?"

"Yes," Harry said slowly with a slightly puzzled look on his face, "Why are you so interested in shrimp?"

"Someone once told me that there was a dimension without shrimp, I'm just trying to see if I'm back in my dimension or not. Though that doesn't really make sense since there are like a ton of different dimensions what are chances that I land in the one the doesn't have shrimp?"

"Faerie isn't another dimension," Harry said. The man's tone that suggested that he had had explained this more than once in the past.

"It sure seemed like another dimension, what with the giant, talking, man eating, fairy spiders and all," Xander said sarcastically.

"It seems like that, but it's not. It's just…" He paused, his face scrunched up in thought, "Okay, the world is made up of a bunch of layers that are different... versions of the same world all stacked up on top of each other."

"So, the earth is like an onion," Xander said, "and there are different versions of the same place all stacked up. How is that not different dimensions? Does that mean that there's more than one of you?"

"NO." Dresden rubbed a hand over his face, "They aren't different dimensions! There's here and then there's the Nevernever and they're both different layers of the same place. Wizards are able to travel between the two."

"You said there were a bunch of different versions, now there are only two?"

"Here, the mortal realm, and Faerie are like the two big pieces but there are a bunch of little layers between them. The small places in between are mostly empty, but there's space there to create your own pocket if you have enough power, but that doesn't really matter right now. For the most part, yes, there are really only two layers, but we're off topic. How did you end up in Faerie without knowing what it is and why do you have an ax?"

"I already told you I tripped through the portal, right as it was closing. That kid Sorcerer opened the portal thing and was summoning minions through it like some kind of cornucopia of minions. They weren't exactly friendly, hence the ax."

"You were fighting a wizard?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow and as mall smirk With an ax?"

"Not, the wizard, the minions. They weren't really even that bad as far as minions go. One good hit and they just kind of dissolved into goo. The stuff even evaporated afterwards."

"Yeah, sounds like some kid was summoning spirit beings from the Nevernever and binding them to his will. If you damage their forms enough the spirits get forced back into the Nevernever and the forms collapse into ectoplasm. Why were you fighting them?"

"Did you miss the part that they weren't friendly? We had to stop them before they started hurting people. It's what we do."

"And who's this 'we' that you keep mentioning?" Dresden asked Xander knew that the man didn't trust him and that was why there weren't moving yet, but the truth was Xander didn't really trust the wizard either, even if the man did save his life.

"I work with the Slayers Council," Xander was expecting a reaction, the newly formed Slayers Council had already made a big name for themselves, but a confused expression was all he got. There was no way that a wizard that seemed to know as much as Dresden did, didn't know about the Slayers.

"Slayers Council. Can't say I've heard of it," Dresden said shrugging a shoulder, and asking wryly,"What, did a bunch of your friends just get together and decide to fight monsters one day?"

"You really haven't heard of the Slayer?" Xander asked, with a raised eyebrow, "You know, the one girl born to fight evil? Been around thousands of years? Hellmouths, Sunnydale, the town that collapsed into a giant crater?"

Dresden was frowning. His head was cocked to the side, wearing an expression that seemed to be saying 'what the hell are you talking about'.

"Really!?" Xander asked in disbelief.

"What exactly do you fight?" Dresden asked; his brow was furrowed.

"Vampires, demons, the occasional evil witch. Pretty much anything evil, equal opportunity and everything," He responded.

"What kind of vampires?"

"The evil kind, what else is there?" Xander said, "Can we please get out here, maybe someplace with dry clothes?"

"Were they Red Court? Black Court? White Court?" Dresden continued. Xander was starting to get aggravated by all of the questions.

"Sorry, but I don't really keep up with vampire politics. Are you going to help me out or should I just try my luck and walk off on my own?"

"What do the vampires look like? Bats? Rotting corpses? Inhumanly beautiful?"

"Have you never seen a vampire before? They look just like people, except their game face, with the fangs and the stupid look foreheads. Are we done with the lesson? I think I'm starting to go into the early stages of hypothermia"

"And how do you kill them?"

"Beheading or a stake through the heart and poof! Nothing but dust. How do you not know this?"

Dresden seemed to be deep in thought as he stared at Xander with an intensity that was making him uncomfortable

"There's only one type of vampire?"

"Yeah, but there's like thousands of other demons, vamps aren't even the worst, other than the fact that they multiply like freaking tribbles."

"You see a lot of demons?" Dresden asked slowly, like a shrink trying to talk to some one who was mentally unhinged and was making sure they were not violent, "What do they look like?"

"They all look different, but you can always expect horns and slime, and extra legs. You're a wizard that can travel into another world and you're telling me that you've never run into one? It's not like they're hard to…" Xander trailed off, his eye widening with a sudden awareness, "Crap, I'm in another dimension."

"Well, it's still the huge possibility that you're just crazy." Dresden said helpfully, "I think that that's actually most likely, seeing as travelling between dimensions is impossible."

"You really think that calling the man with the ax crazy is a good idea?"Xander shot back sarcastically while crossing his arms over his chest to show that he wasn't actually planning on attacking the man. He'd seen what the wizard had done to the spiders and Xander didn't think that he'd be able to take Dresden down without help, not that that was actually necessary.

"Well, you've only got the one eye. I figure if something goes down I've got the advantage of depth perception," Dresden shot right back surprising a laugh out of Xander . Harry had also adopted a non-threatening stance, leaning on his staff like one would do with a walking stick (if you had a six foot walking stick) position that would make it easy to unbalance him in a fight. Xander had no doubt that the man knew what he was doing. It told Xander the man knew how to fight, but was willing to show some trust, the question was how much.

"Yeah, depth perception and a magic wand. Bringing magic to a ax fight not cool, Potter." Xander said grinning.

"Wow! I haven't heard that one before." Dresden rolled his eyes.

"So, now that we've got the fact that I'm probably in another dimension-"

"You're not."

"Can we please get somewhere warm, as I said earlier. Hypothermia setting in here."

Dresden just looked at him for a second before giving him a nod.

"I'm parked just around the corner." Harry said and Xander found himself following after him once again. Xander had not been sure what type of car to expect as they came out of the alley, but the old battered, multi-colored 60's era VW beetle was definitely not it. Even in the dim light of the street lamp Xander could see a mix or red, green, white, blue. One doors had been replaced with a red one at some point and already had another dent in it and it looked like the hood had been never made it past the grey primer paint, someone had spray painted the number 53 on it. That made Xander smile; the car _did_ bare a striking resemblance to Herbie. The colors were odd enough but Xander couldn't help but wondering out loud.

"How do you fit?" He asked looking at the man who was better than six and a half feet tall and then back at the small car.

"Practice," Dresden said dryly as he wedged the tall staff into the car, one end was pressed into the back seat with the other poking up between the two front seats. The wizard slid in behind the steering wheel and reached over to unlock the passenger side door to allow Xander to get in. Xander got into the beat-up car.

'Here's hoping I didn't just survive giant spiders only to get done in by a VW bug,' Xander thought as Dresden turned the key in the ignition and the engine started with a sputtering cough. He was really hoping he was wrong about this being another dimension, but with his luck… Well, it was as if Murphy had written his law with Xander in mind.

...

* * *

_AN: I didn't read any of the Buffy Comics so I'm pretty much making up everything that happened post season 7, sorry if it upsets anyone. Please Review :)  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_I do not own any of the rights to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'The Dresden Files' and am making no money from this story._

* * *

**Dimensional Shift**

Chapter Three

…..

Once the portal had closed and the endless stream of suit demons stopped the slayers were able to finish off those left behind. The last of the goo quickly evaporated and there was no evidence that the demons had ever even been there.

"Man, I wish more demons cleaned up after themselves; it saves on clothes," Faith said looking around to the mini-slayers, frowning she saw that a face was missing, "Where's Xander?"

The girls all looked around and then at each other before shrugging. Faith glared at them and was about to start up a scathing rebuke when she caught a flash of red moving in the corner of her eye. She turned to see the sorcerer who had started this whole mess struggling to lift himself up off of the floor. It looked like he was tangled up in his stupid looking red cloak that didn't quite manage to cover his deathstar T-shirt. Faith stalked over to him.

"You," She said angrily, lifting the kid up by his collar and thrusting him up against the wall with one hand, "Where's Xander?"

"What? I- you…what's… I-" the kid stuttered in obvious fear of the woman that currently held him up against the wall with one hand. His feet weren't touching the ground.

"Guy with an eye patch, carrying an ax. What did you do to him!?" Faith snarled into the kids face.

"Nothing!" The kid said in a trembling voice that cracked as Faith tightened her grip on his neck, "I- he might have fallen through the portal. I- I didn't see!"

"So open it up again and bring him back."

"I can't," The kid whimpered

"What do you mean you can't?" Faith asked in a dangerously low voice, enunciating each word very slowly, her teeth gritting together. The three slayers that stood behind her knew the tone. The wrath of Faith was imminent.

"Th-the staff. He broke it. I can't open a way without it," he said, his face growing red as he scrabbled at the Slayer's hand in a futile attempt to loosen her grip on his collar.

"So, get another one."

"It was an antique, one of a kind. Passed down through the generations. It was the only one! One of a kind! He broke it I- I can't open the way. Please don't kill me!" The kid sorcerer was one blink away from crying as Faith dropped him unceremoniously onto the ground.

"I don't do that anymore," Faith said with a glare that cut as violently as a knife.

"What does that mean? How are we going to get Xander back?" Kathy asked with wide eyes, knowing that Xander was missing because she had jumped into a situation without thinking.

"Looks like we're going to have to call Red to tell her that she's going to have to cut her vacation short," Faith said and then smirked, "Kennedy's going to pissed."

….

"So, what's with the Michael Jackson glove?" Xander asked trying to break into the silence inside of the car, well not silence per say. The car was making enough noise by itself, rattling and clunking all the way down the road, but neither of them had spoken since Dresden had told him they were heading to his apartment. 10 minutes of no speaking should count as some sort of silence.

"What's with the eye patch?" Harry shot right back trying to make his voice light. Xander knew he had hit on something the wizard didn't want to talk about. Xander knew because he'd used that tone of voice quite a lot over the years to keep life from seeming too crappy. He didn't comment on the wizard's use of it.

"I just tried it on one day and it fit," Xander said with a grin. Dresden raised an eyebrow obviously not believing him.

The car fell back into a rattling, clunking silence until they were parked outside of a large wooden boarding house that looked like it had been standing there for at least a century. There were three mailboxes out front and Dresden checked one before heading to the side of the building where a narrow set of steps led down to the basement. The cement of the walls on either side of the steps were scored with various nicks and scorch marks. The steps led down to a battered looking steel door. What was this guy into that it was putting dents in a reinforced door? Xander felt uncomfortable and it wasn't just his wet clothes. It was almost like the feeling he got when something was about to go wrong. Dresden paused in front of the door for a moment without opening it and then, just as Dresden was opening the door, the feeling seemed to go away. Xander's inner carpenter winced as Dresden forced open the door with his shoulder to unjam it from the doorframe, a poor show of craftsmanship if Xander ever saw one.

Xander followed Dresden in without waiting for an invite. It was a habit Xander had fallen into after years of dealing with creatures that couldn't enter a home without an invite, an easy way to show that he wasn't a vampire. Dresden didn't say anything about it but it looked like he understood what Xander had intended. The apartment was dark and Xander couldn't see much until Harry waved his hand and gave a muttered "Flickum Bicus" and what looked like every candle in the apartment lit up. The first thing that Xander took in was the pony-sized dog that was licking Dresden's hand.

"Hiya Mouse," Dresden said enduring the licking for a moment more before moving his hand up to pat the giant dog's head. Mouse's eyes turned to Xander and Xander got the distinct impression that the dog was sizing him up.

"What _is _that?" Xander asked because it could _not_ be a normal dog.

"He is a dog. His name is Mouse. Mouse, this is Xander," Dresden waved a hand in Xander's direction and Mouse cocked his head at him. Xander tensed slightly as the 'dog' walked towards him, but Mouse just gave him an interested sniff before walking away toward a doorway, Dresden seemed to relax a little by Mouse's dismissal. As the dog walked away Xander could make out an old fashioned refrigerator through the doorway, the kind that didn't run on electricity. In fact, looking around the rest of the apartment, Xander didn't see anything that ran on electricity. No television, digital clocks, lamps, he didn't even see a radio anywhere. There was a phone however. It was an old rotary style that Xander was pretty sure wasn't in production anymore.

"Can I use your phone?" Xander asked looking over to Dresden, "I'm pretty sure I'm not in Kansas anymore, but making a few phone calls could always prove me wrong."

"Knock yourself out, Dorothy," Harry said, leaning his staff up against the wall beside an umbrella stand that didn't actually have any umbrellas in it, instead it was filled with canes and other carved staves. Xander was just sitting down on the battered looking orange couch when Dresden muttered something else and the fireplace burst into flames before him. Xander was man enough to say that he jumped, though to be fair, it was a small jump.

"Nice trick," Xander said, "I get the feeling you've got a thing for fire."

Dresden opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Mouse, who apparently gotten tired of waiting in the kitchen. He was carrying a food bowl in his mouth. Dresden smiled down at the dog for a moment, "Make yourself comfortable." He said to Xander and headed back into the kitchen with Mouse and his bowl at his heels.

Xander had only managed to dial one number when Dresden came back into the room. It took an exorbitant amount of time to dial a ten-digit number on a rotary phone, no wonder they weren't in production anymore. It had connected to someone named Alice and most definitely wasn't the Cleveland School.

"Any luck?" He asked

"You mean with the one number I managed to dial? How do you use this thing? I think I've lost years of my life," Xander was not happy with the phone or the fact it didn't connect to the phone he'd wanted, but at least the fire was warming him up.

"I'm going to take that as a no," Dresden said amusedly, "You keep making phone calls I'm going to check with some of my sources."

He pulled up a rug, revealing a trap door set into the floor. Dresden pulled the door up to reveal the top of a ladder that led into a dark hole.

"You have a basement in your basement apartment?"

"It's called a sub-basement"

"I'll be back up in a few minutes," Harry said as he started his descent down the ladder.

"You're just going to leave me alone with all of your…" Xander trailed off as he took a long look around the small room taking in the book shelves filled with paperback books and various memorabilia, the sad beaten-up orange couch on which he was sitting and the throw rug that was an image of Elvis' face, "...stuff."

"I'm sure that Mouse can keep you out of trouble," Dresden said wryly as he descended into the hole in the floor. Xander turned to look at the dog in question, he seemed to have heard his name and was looking at them from the kitchen, still crunching on kibble. Mouse didn't look like he was planning on doing much if Xander did decide he wanted to snoop around Dresden's apartment, not that it really mattered much as Xander wasn't planning on leaving his warm spot in front of the fire. The ugly orange couch was probably the most comfortable couch he'd ever sat on and he had a few more phone calls to make before he'd be completely sure he wasn't getting home tonight.

…..

Harry closed the trap door behind him as he climbed down the ladder into the sub-basement the he had converted into a lab, leaving Xander alone in his apartment. Harry wasn't sure what he should think about the one eyed man he had saved in the Nevernever. Xander didn't strike him as being insane, but then on the other hand he was also maintaining that he was from another dimension.

He lit up the various candles in the room with a wave of his hand, a small focus of will and a muttered, "Flickum Bicus"

"Bob, it's time to go to work." Orange lights flickered to life on the skull's empty eye sockets.

"What's up Boss?" the Skull managed to say clearly despite the clear lack of a tongue, lips, vocal cords, anything that was necessary to create speech, but, being a spirit of intellect, things like that didn't really apply to Bob.

"What do you know about traveling to other dimensions?"

"Is this a theoretical question, Boss? Or are you finally planning on blowing this popsicle stand? Though, to be honest with your luck I don't think your life would improve much." Bob never tired of telling Harry how crappy his life was.

"So, it _is_ possible," Harry said sounding unsure.

"Seventh law of magic, Boss. They don't usually make laws for things that aren't possible," Bob said, the orange lights in the skull's eye sockets flickering. Harry got the impression that Bob would be rolling his eyes if he had them.

"'Thou Shall not seek beyond the Outer Gates'. The Outer Gates are other dimensions? Why didn't they just say 'Other Dimensions'?" Harry asked exasperatedly. He was never all that up on the old world language that was most prevalent in the supernatural communities, the White Council in particular, though that might have had something to do with the fact that he had had their sword hanging over the back of his neck waiting for a single slip up to execute him. The Doom of Damocles was what he had been sentenced with for killing his guardian in self-defense.

"Yeah, they sure had a handle on theoretical physics when they were naming things in the Middle Ages, Harry."

"…Right. And why exactly is travelling to different dimensions a bad thing?"

"Well, it's only a bad thing if you think ripping holes in the fabric of reality is a bad."

Harry paused, staring at the skull for a moment.

"I think that merits more of an explanation, Bob," Harry growled at the skull in annoyance.

"Do I get some incentive Boss?" Bob asked eagerly, probably hoping Harry would offer up another trashy romance novel to add to the spirit's already substantial collection.

"How about you tell me and I won't bury your skull in cement for the next year"

"Ah, don't be like that Harry," Bob whined

"What do you mean 'ripping holes in the fabric of reality'?"

"Well, why do you think they made the Seventh Law?"

"I always thought that it was to keep Outsiders from coming through."

Bob gave a huff, "What are they teaching wizards these days?"

"Get to the point Bob."

"Well, way back before the White Council had even thought of forming up, there were a few Wizards who made it their goal to be the 'most powerful of all'. A lot of them did that by summoning things through the gates or travelling through them. What they didn't know was that when you have so many wizards poking holes in our reality to get at one another you end up with swiss cheese for a barrier. Holes started to open up all by themselves and all kinds of nasties started to fall through and, since no one had summoned them, there was nothing to control them. It ended up bringing Wizards together in an attempt to battle the flood of Outsiders and shore up the walls of our reality. Now the White Council has rules against it, but someone's always watching to make sure the wall's holding steady."

"The Gatekeeper," Dresden muttered to himself in realization. Rashid was the most mysterious member of the Senior Council always wearing a cloak that only allowed glimpses of his face. He was also the only one that was taller that Harry.

"What brought this on Boss?"

Harry told him about the man he had saved from the spiders, the man who insisted he was from another dimension and was currently upstairs making phone calls to confirm it.

"Oh Boss that's not good."

"Yeah, I got that. But Xander's not an Outsider, he's definitely human."

Harry had used his the Sight to take a look at Xander when he had been explaining the Nevernever. He was in armor and the ax he held was a shining sword, but the most telling was that Xander shone almost as brightly as Murphy who Harry had always thought looked as close to an avenging angel as anyone could.

"That all depends on your definition of an Outsider. Technically anything that's not from our world is an Outsider. Wizards just have a habit of only summoning up the truly nasty stuff so most Outsiders are pretty impressive." Impressive was an understatement if Harry had ever heard one. The Outsiders that he knew of were immune to most magics and even the members the Senior Council, the most powerful and experienced wizards alive, baulked at the thought of going up against one.

"Xander gave the impression that he came from another version of Earth, he even cracked a Harry Potter joke. That just doesn't sound like an Outsider."

"Well it's not as if there's a whole lot of info on what's out there. Anything could be beyond the gates, alternate version of Earth isn't impossible, but Boss, the White Council's got the Gates pretty locked down and if things are falling through then… Are you sure this guy's not just crazy?" Bob asked hopefully

"I don't think he's crazy, Bob"

"That's right Boss because you _always_ get the right impressions of people," Bob said in an upbeat tone that reeked of sarcasm.

"Mouse liked him," Harry said crossing his arms, he might not always be right about people, but Mouse was never wrong. "Looks like I'm going to have to make some calls of my own."

"Looks that way Boss" Bob agreed cheerfully

Harry heaved a sigh. He hated asking the council for help, even if he _was_ a Warden.

...

* * *

_AN:__Details of the Outer Gates aren't outlined in the books, neither is the time Pre White Council. So, I just went with it and filled in some details of my own :)_

___ Please Review. Pretty please_


	4. Chapter 4

_I do not own any of the rights to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'The Dresden Files' and am making no money from this story._

Dimensional Shift

Chapter Four

...

* * *

"What do you mean you lost Xander!?" Willow shouted into her cell phone, sounding every bit of the fiery red head she had blossomed into.

"And why do they have to call us? It's not as if there isn't an army of _other _people willing to find him," Kennedy said into her hands frustrated at the interruption. This was the first vacation that Willow had managed to scrape out in… well…ever. Willow gave her an apologetic look as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed and listened to whoever was calling. Kennedy heaved a sigh and rolled off the bed completely, heading to pack their suitcases because there was no way that Willow _wasn't_ going to high tail it back to Cleveland, not when something had happened to her best friend.

"I'll be there in half an hour," Willow said hanging up the phone. Let it not be said that Kennedy did not know her girlfriend.

"I guess our vacation's over," said Kennedy, shoving clothes back into the suitcases. If she was using a little more force than necessary… well, that was between her and the suitcases.

"I'm sorry, baby," Willow said, the guilt clearly evident in her furrowed brow. "I'm sure that we'll be able to take a break after we get Xander back."

Kennedy sighed. "Yeah," Willow said rubbing a hand up and down Kennedy's arm, already knowing that they probably wouldn't, but that was just life and Kennedy was okay with that. She finished packing as her girlfriend set up the necessary things to transport them back to Cleveland. Willow had explained how the magic of it worked more than once, but Kennedy, and a lot of the council too, had taken to calling it a portkey. Andrew called it a transporter and tended to say things like 'beam me up' any time he had to use it.

….

* * *

Willow was true to her word. She and Kennedy were back in Cleveland half an hour later.

Despite the combined efforts of a good number of the Watchers and witches, there had been absolutely no progress in finding Xander,. There were a number of ways to open up portals but none of them seemed to be able to connect to the dimension Xander had fallen into. Even the tracking spell that had been made using Xander's archived blood had failed to locate him.

"This is pointless," one of the witches said, annoyed with the lack of progress. "According to the wizard boy, the only way to get to the dimension is with that staff!" She was gesturing over to the scrawny teenage boy tied to a chair in the far corner of the room. His red cloak had been taken off at some point, leaving him in a pair of grungy jeans and nearly threadbare Death star t-shirt. He looked like he had fallen asleep again.

"Yes," Giles said adjusting his glasses, "But as far as we can tell the staff did not have any spells that would allow that, even before it was broken. I don't believe he has been entirely honest with us."

Apparently the wizard hadn't been as out of it as he looked because his eyes shot open

"I told you everything I know! It not my fault your guy broke the staff!" He said angrily his voice only cracking slightly, "That thing's been in family for like ever and-"He snapped his mouth shut hunching lower in his chair as Giles leveled a glare in his direction that could cut glass.

"The staff may not have had spells that helped create portals, but it _did_ have spells in it," Willow said her eyes widening with some sort of realization.

"Have you thought of something Willow?"

"What if the reason that the spell won't work is because the staff is broken," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Everyone just paused to look at her as if she'd grown another head.

"I'm pretty sure that I've already said that, more then once," The wizard said sarcastically. A few of the others in the room nodded in agreement

"Yes, I think further explanations are necessary, Willow," Giles said not completely sure what Willow had thought of.

"What if he was able to open the portal to another dimension because that was where the staff originally came from!?" Willow said excitedly. Giles sat still for a moment his brow furrowed in thought.

"…Yes, that… would work," Giles said sounding both surprised and thrilled.

"Okay, can you explain for the rest of us?" one of the junior watchers asked in an aggravated tone. He probably wasn't going to last long in the Council if he got this worked up over a couple hours of mostly worthless researching.

"Well, if the staff was indeed created in another dimension then it would mean that the runes and enchantments are also from that dimension," Willow explained

"So?" another watcher asked, sounding a bit more respectful than the last one.

"The spell that the young man_ claims _to have used would not work on its own, but if he had magic that came from that dimension it would be fairly easy to open a portal because the magic would naturally form a sort of bridge in order to return to where it originated," Giles said

"Shouldn't you still be able to use the staff? I mean even if it's broken it's still from the other dimension right?"

"That would be true if the staff were a magical object, but it's merely a staff that has been enchanted. As a result when the staff was broken so was the enchantment. Any foreign magic that the staff may have contained was released blending with the magic in our dimension."

"No extra-dimensional magic. No connection to the other dimension," Willow said, finishing Giles explanation as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yes, but that shouldn't have stopped us from being able to make a connection. We've been able to connect to various other dimensions without needing foreign magic to make a bridge," Giles said tapping his chin ponderously.

"Unless the dimension that Xander fell into has been blocked off. There are hundreds of accounts of people travelling dimensions, but it's not as if every single dimension has been mapped out and there are also records of dimensions that are impossible to access. It's not that far of a stretch to say that there's an unknown dimension that we lost access too at some point."

"Yes, Qour'Toth springs to mind," Giles said thoughtfully, "But if there's truly a block on the dimension Xander has fallen into. I'm afraid that in all probability we won't be able to open another portal without the staff's magic, at least… not without resorting to the use extremely dark magic."

"Well, then we'll just have to get the staff's magic back somehow," Willow said her face the image of determined. She was going to get Xander back. Even if it meant doing something that had never been done before.

….

* * *

Xander made a total of five phone calls. The closest he got to connecting to the right person was the pizza place down the road from the school; that number connected to an Italian bistro. He probably used a little too much force when he _placed_ the phone back in its cradle because it made a faint dinging noise that Xander was fairly sure it wasn't supposed to make. Mouse seemed to disapprove of Xander's treatment of the phone, giving him a loud huff from the kitchen.

"Hey, you'd be annoyed too if you had to deal with this thing," Xander said waving his hand at the phone in aggravation. The dog ducked his head and walked over to the couch, otherwise known as: the comfortable orange monstrosity. Xander was once again struck with how enormously _big_ Mouse was. The dog's wolfy grin was level to Xander's face without having to tilt his head up. Who in their right mind would see this dog and think, 'Mouse'? Despite the nearness of Mouse's very large teeth, fangs really, Xander didn't feel threatened.

"My, what big teeth you have," Xander said smiling as he held his hand out for the dog to sniff. Mouse gave it a perfunctory sniff before giving it a lick and lowering his head for a pat. Xander was happy to comply, running his hand through black and grey fur and giving the large dog a scratch behind the ear. Mouse's tail was wagging so hard Xander half expected to be able to hear the air rushing by. Xander continued scratching until Mouse pulled away, spreading out on the floor in front of the couch and rolling so he was belly up. Xander grinned at the puppy dog eyes he was getting, but didn't move until Mouse gave a small whine.

"Okay, okay, geez, you big baby," Xander said smiling and leaning down to rub the whining dog's belly. Mouse's tail thumped loudly on the floor. Well, at least one of them was having a good day.

…

* * *

"Even if this works, we still don't know if we'll be able to open another portal," Giles should be used to desperate last chances by now but, truthfully, he would probably never get used to it.

"_If_ this works," a witch muttered. She was one of the few, very few, that had stayed. Even after it had became obvious that none of them were actually needed once Willow and Giles had gotten on a roll.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Willow said nervously, but still confident in her abilities. She sat down upon the floor where she had a drawn a circle in white chalk. Candles lined the edges of the circle and a shiny sphere made of quartz was placed in the center between the two broken pieces of the staff. Willow was sitting in a meditative stance, her hands outstretched around the sphere close to the surface but not touching it. She took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing," she said and then began chanting.

"_Sed Magicam virgam quoque. _

_hanc audire me et revertentur. _

_Magicae reditum ad tous domum. _

_Ubi quondam tenuit revertar ad."_

A green mist started to form around the witch as she repeated the chant, swirling and moving in beautiful patterns. Willow's chanting grew louder for a moment, and the mist gathered up into a cloud hugging the separate parts of the broken staff. The mist remained there, above the staff, growing brighter for a moment before streaming into the crystal ball with a waving motion of Willows hands. The swirling mist, now within the sphere, flashed once. Willow was slightly out of breath as she stopped her chanting; there was sweat beading on her forehead.

"It worked," She said breathlessly, a huge grin on her face.

"We have a bridge. Now we must determine who will cross it," Giles was smiling as well.

Faith had been quick to step forward; doing risky shit was her thing. Kathy had been real quick to volunteer to rescue her watcher, but that was more because she felt guilty for getting Xander into the whole situation. Faith wasn't all that happy that a baby slayer was coming along for the ride but she could do worse for a partner in crime and Faith figured Kathy should at least get a chance to make up for her screw-up.

"So, how sure are you that this will actually work and me and the kid won't get stranded in Neverland?" Faith asked as Willow handed her an amulet that was roughly the size of her palm. It looked like it was made of some kind of hammered out metal. There were a number of symbols etched onto its surface, but Faith didn't really recognize any of them. She'd never been very good with the whole research thing.

"The magical theory is sound. That amulet will allow you to track Xander easily and the residual magic from this dimension in it means that you should be able to open up a portal back to us without any problem," Willow was sounding a bit too bubbly with her success for the slayer's tastes.

"Yeah, the word I clued in on that was 'should'. So it's not a hundred percent?" Faith said thoughtfully, glancing over towards Kathy before shrugging, "That's good enough for me. Just talk me though using this thing, Red, and we'll be set."

Willow set about talking her though tracking Xander as well as creating the return portal and Faith had to admit it did seem really simple despite the overcomplicated wording that Willow tended to use. Willow made sure that both Faith and Kathy knew how to use the amulet before finally picking up the globe to open up the portal to Xander. It tore open like a hole in thin air

"Wish us luck," Faith said fixing the straps of her backpack and hefting a short sword. Kathy took a deep breath as she looked into the portal, tightening her grip on her own short sword following Faith as she stepped forward towards the portal which sputtered and blinked out when she got within an arms length of it.

"What's the deal Red? You run out of Mojo?"

"What- no- what? That wasn't supposed to happen," Willow babbled, giving the globe a shake as if to shake the foreign magic out.

"Yeah, this looks like it's going to take awhile," Faith said to Kathy, "Lets get some food, I'm feeling like some hot wings. You?"

"Uh… hot wings are good?" Kathy said unsure of what was happening, but just rolled with it and followed the dark slayer out of the room. She could hear Willow and Giles start up with magical theories and suddenly she was very glad to be following Faith out of the room.

…

* * *

"Why won't it work?" Willow growled, frustrated with the latest failed attempt at opening the portal. It wasn't so much that they failed to open up a portal, it was more the fact that the portal snapped shut whenever anyone got close to it.

"How, did Xander even manage to fall through the blasted thing if it closes whenever someone gets near it?" Giles asked, just as frustrated as Willow was. He looked over to the boy still tied to the chair with a frown, everyone else had left by this point to catch up on much needed sleep.

"Hey, don't look at me!, _I_ never tried to go through it. I had no idea where it went, I'm not _stupid_," The kid said sarcastically.

"Well, there is some evidence to the contrary," Giles said, "How close did you get to the portal?"

The wizard shrugged as much as he was able from his place tied up in the chair, "Close enough to look through it."

"So, closer than we've have managed to get?"

"I don't know, maybe?" He wasn't really sure he liked where this might be going.

"Well, it can't hurt to give it another try…" Giles said, untying the teenage wizard as Willow prepared to open up another portal.

"Wait," the wizard said warily as he rubbed his wrists, "You're not actually going to make me _walk through_ are you?"

"No, we just need to see if you can get close to the portal without it closing," Willow said as a hole was ripped into thin air once more. Matt was still looking uneasy, even as he stepped closer to the portal, stopping barely an arms length away. It wasn't closing like it had all of the other times.

"Reach out your hand towards it," Giles prompted.

"_Really_?" the kid asked incredulously, "I'm wanting to say no to that. So, NO I'm not going to do that."

"Look…," Giles paused for a second as he drew up a blank, "What _is _your name?"

"It's **Matt**. How is it that no one-"

"Look, Matt," Willow said interrupting him, "we're not asking you to jump through it, just reach your hand out."

The teen huffed, but reached out a hand anyway, skimming it over the surface of the portal.

"Happy now?"

"No, not particularly," Giles said with a deep sigh, "Now we must figure out why it stays open for you and, apparently Xander."

….

* * *

Xander was running a hand through the grey fur on Mouse's side when Dresden reappeared, coming back up from the sub-basement. Both Xander and Mouse turned as the trap door swung open and the tall wizard hoisted himself out of it.

"I'm hoping you got more information from your sub-basement contacts than I did with my phone calls," Xander said with fake cheer, "Half the people I connected to yelled at me, apparently calling people after midnight is considered rude."

"I would have never guessed," Dresden said wryly

"Though, I did get a very nice sounding Italian Bistro," Xander said thoughtfully as he continued to run his fingers through Mouse's fur, "How did your foray into the sub-basement go?"

"Better than your phones," Dresden said walking over to where Xander was seated.

"Because that's such a hard thing to be," Xander said rolling his eye, "I think the only thing that could have made the calls worse is if someone managed to stab me through the phone. Which, now that I think about it probably isn't as impossible as I would like."

Harry just looked at him for a moment before relaying what Bob had told him, "Turns out being from another dimension isn't as impossible as I thought, but-"

"There's always a but," Xander interjected.

"If you really are from another dimension then the walls of reality could be breaking down."

"Well, I _am _from another dimension. So what does that mean, as far as planning goes?"

"Well, I need to make a few phone calls, but I think that those can wait until the morning," Harry looked over to the small clock that was ticking away on one of the bookshelves, it was already past 2 am, "Well… later in the morning."

"Seriously? You just told me that reality could be breaking, but it's okay to wait until tomorrow to make a few phone calls?!" Xander asked incredulously, "I mean I'm a pretty laid back guy, but this is sounding kind of end-of-the-world-y to me."

"Yeah, but it's more of a slow moving glacier than a flash flood and I need some sleep before I deal with this and trust me you will want all the energy you have if you have any hope of dealing with the White Council. Their first response usually involves a beheading."

"Well, that sounds like fun," Xander said sarcastically before looking around the room and then down at the couch, "Got any extra blankets?"

"I do; I have extra pillows even," Harry said with a small smile.

…

* * *

"So, it's _not_ going to close this time?" Faith asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We believe that we can trick the portal into letting both you and Kathy through… if Matt goes with you," Willow said.

"Matt?" Faith asked, "Who the hell's Matt?" Willow gave a wild gesture over to the wizard Faith had pinned to a wall not so long ago.

"Oh come on! Please tell me that this is a joke. You can't expect me to take that kid with us! He's the reason we're in this mess in the first place!" Kathy said, angrily throwing up her hands. Matt took several stumbling steps back from the angry slayer to stand behind the chair he had previously been tied to.

"It wasn't _my_ fault he tripped and I really hadn't done anything wrong…yet… And I didn't want to go with you either," He said defensively and pointing over towards Willow from his spot behind the chair, "It's all their idea."

"So, why does he have to go with us?" Faith asked, "It'll be more dangerous if we have to watch out for him too."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that, I'm afraid," Giles said taking off his glasses to clean them again. It was surprising he hadn't rubbed the way through the lenses yet. "It appears that the portal only allows things that are from that dimension through. Matt here appears to be a descendant of someone who came from that dimension, most likely the same person who created the staff."

"Xander must have someone from that dimension in his family tree," Willow said, "because that's the only explanation we can come up with why he could get through the portal, even if it was by accident."

"Man, Xander has the worst luck," Faith said with a small laugh, because really, what were the odds of falling through a portal that only people descended from some unreachable dimension could get through? Only Xander… Faith took a deep breath and crossed her arms, "Okay fine, but we don't need him to get back right? Cause if he does a double cross, I'm _going _to take him down."

"Hey!" Matt said in protest.

"Uh, no you don't necessarily _need _him to get back, Faith, but…" Giles said doing his best not to sound uneasy.

"What? All he's got to do is not stab me in the back, other wise I got his back. I don't kill people who don't try to kill me first," said Faith, her arms crossed, the 'anymore' was implied.

"I know you don't Faith,"

"Okay… so, are we doing this?" Kathy asked looking from Faith to Matt and then over to Giles. Willow went over how to use the amulet one more time before reopening the portal. As the three of them walked their way to the portal, both Faith and Kathy holding onto Matt's shoulder so they would be able get through.

"Don't say I never did anything for you, Xander,"Faith muttered and stepped through. And then all three of them were gone. The portal was closing.

"Do you think they'll get him back?"

"I have no doubt of it Willow," Giles said placing a comforting hand on the worried witch's shoulder hoping he hadn't just lied.

….

* * *

_AN: Latin Chant - Magic of this staff hear me and return. Magic return to your home. Return to where you once were held._

_Faith's comment about never__**land**__ was a reference to peter pan not to the never__**never**__._

_I always thought that people who say that their stories just start writing themselves we're totally full of it, but it turns out it's not total B.S. I just can't seem to stop this story from getting away from me. I swear it's like trying to walk a huge freaking dog that likes to run on the leash. _


	5. Chapter 5

_I do not own any of the rights to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'The Dresden Files' and am making no money from this story._

* * *

Dimensional Shift

Chapter Five

Kathy, Faith and Matt came through the portal in the middle of a forest of trees. White bark with golden leaves, not the yellow that leaves often turned in the fall, but an actual gold. The forest seemed to be empty around them, only a slight breeze rustling through the leaves. The two slayers had weapons drawn the moment they were through, but after a brief look around it looked as if the forest really was empty. Faith took out the amulet and ran through the spell that would allow them to track Xander down. The amulet spun gently for a long moment, but before Faith could begin to feel worried, it tugged off to the left. It wasn't a strong tug, which meant that Xander must be a fair distance away, bu just that the amulet had moved put Faith a little more at ease.

"Looks like we're going to have to go for a walk, boys and girls," Faith said putting the amulet back around her neck and began walking in the direction it had swung.

"How accurate is that thing?" Matt asked following after her

"I've never seen it not work," Faith said before reconsidering, "At least, when the person we're looking for is alive or at least a little undead." They stopped every few minutes to use the amulet to adjust direction. They hadn't been walking for very long before Matt started to complain.

"Exactly how long is this going to take? Usually when some one says 'go for a walk' it's around the block or a short trip through a nice park," Matt said his voice took on a vaguely squeaky tone, "not a freaking expedition through a forest!"

"Oh, come on we've only been walking for like twenty minutes, I pretty sure I've sprinted for longer than that," Kathy said sarcastically from her spot behind the 'sorcerer'

"Yeah, well, _I'm_ not some super strong demon slayer girl," he said petulantly

"Yeah, because everyone who goes hiking has super strength," Kathy returned

"No, I think they're just crazy. Who in their right mind likes to go tramping through the woods!"

"Oh, I don't know how abo–"

"Hey, are you two to gonna quit yapping or do I have come back there?" Faith interrupted, turning to look behind her briefly before pulling out the amulet once more, "Geez, it like I got stuck on a road trip with a couple of twelve year olds," She muttered. The amulet continued to swing in the same direction, with the same weak pull. The forest seemed to go on and on just a seemingly endless stretch of perfect trees; it was unsettling Faith something fierce, not that she would ever admit that. The only positive part of the journey so far was that Matt had finally shut up. Kathy had reminded him that they didn't really need him to get back and then proceeded to threaten to unspeakable things to him if he didn't shut up. He shut up.

They had checked with the amulet four more times before then ran into anything.

She was beautiful and when Faith looked at her she couldn't help but think of everything bright and good, and a gentle breeze on a warm summer day. Faith tightened her grip on her short sword. Nothing came off looking that good without being some kind of ugly inside and if there was one thing that Faith hated, it was people screwing around with her head.

"Okay lady, I don't know who you are, but if you don't stop messing with my head, I think my sword here going to get a nice introduction."

"I am the Summer Lady," The impossibly beautiful girl said in a gentle voice, as if Faith hadn't just threatened her. She regarded them for a moment more, before saying in that same gentle voice, "Youdo not belong here."

"Oh, sorry, is this your forest? 'Cause we really didn't mean-" Matt said in a rush of nervous chatter before Kathy cut him off with a hiss, "Shut up, Matt!"

"Look, we're not here to fight anyone" Faith spoke firmly, "We're just here to find our friend."

"If you're not here to fight, why do you have so many weapons?" Came a voice from her side. Faith managed to quell the urge to jump in surprise at the sudden appearance of the man. He didn't give the impression of being fully human either, though not because he was inhumanly beautiful. He was an average height with white blonde hair that didn't quite match up with his tanned skin. And… there was just something off about him, like the fact that he had managed to sneak up on two Slayers. Kathy, who didn't have the amount of experience Faith had and let out a startled yelp when he appeared. Matt just flat out jumped, like a spooked horse, "What the– Where did he come from? He wasn't there before! Was he? I mean-"

This time it was the stranger that cut him off, "I am the Summer Knight, where my Lady goes I am not far to follow." There was a shadow of amusement in his otherwise blank face.

"'_Follow my lady'_? What are you, her attack dog?" Faith asked caustically, still deeply annoyed that this guy had managed to sneak up on her.

"It is my duty to protect the Summer Court," He said it drily, but didn't leave any doubt that he a no qualms about taking them on, his hand resting casually on the hilt of the sword that hung from his hip.

"Well, like I said, we're just here looking for a friend. We're not here to fight," Faith said doing her best to sound nonviolent, but she couldn't stop herself from saying, "unless y'all have done something to him, then we might have problems."

"I think that we may be able to aid you in the search for your friend," The Summer lady said in the same soft tone she had used earlier.

"Oh, yeah?" Faith asked suspiciously, "Why?"

"You do not belong here. I would choose to see you and your friend returned to your homes rather than remain here," The lady explained in a voice so filled with tranquility that both Kathy and Matt had no doubt of the girl's goodness. Faith just tensed up more at the unnatural feeling.

"In my experience most folks who want me gone generally don't go helping me out

"No harm will come to you on the way to seek audience the Summer Queen, on this you have my word.

The blond guy stiffened up a little at that. He didn't say anything, but Faith got the feeling that getting the word of whoever this Summer Lady was kind of a big deal. That combined with the fact that there were apparently people that could sneak up on a slayer easily, Faith only had to speak quietly with Kathy and Matt for a moment before they were agreeing to take the proffered help. The Lady and her Knight were untested, but they had managed to sneak up on two slayers. Faith really didn't want to see if she could take them in a fight if she didn't need to.

They walked along with the two mostly-strangers; Faith's skin was itching with the unease she got whenever she was in unknown territory with people she didn't know if she could trust. Matt was staying quiet for the most part except for his nervous humming of 'off to see the wizard' and Faith felt that she should be thankful for the small miracles in life.

"Inform the Queen that there are visitors that she may wish to see, should she have the time," The Lady directed to the Knight. He didn't look as if he like that much, but he still gave a nod

"Of course my Lady."

* * *

They stood waiting in the bright room and Faith could almost feel the shifting of power in the room as a truly regal woman glided into the room. _Glided._ She took in all of them fully, her gaze was even more unnerving than the Summer Lady's. Watching them for a good minute before she shifting her attention to the Summer Lady.

"You were right to inform me of this development."

* * *

Harry phoned into the council once he'd managed to shake off the fog of sleep. Xander was currently taking an ice cold shower that Harry had apologized for in advance.

"One of the downsides of being a wizard," Harry had said, "Technology doesn't like to work around us, and when I say 'doesn't like to work' I mean it tends to explode." Xander had raised a dubious eyebrow and laughingly said, "You guys sure drew the short end of the magical stick there didn't you? I don't think I could cope without the hope of a hot shower waiting for me at the end of the day" and took the towels from Harry.

Harry patiently went through all of the security protocols reading the most current responses out of a small black notebook.

"Hello Warden Dresden," said a competent female voice that Harry didn't recognize.

"I have a potential code wolf," Harry said,

"Hold one moment please," the operator said professionally. 'Wolf' was the code for 'end-of the world-y' events, as Xander would say. Harry didn't have to wait long for someone higher up to come onto the line.

Harry almost grinned at his luck when his mentor came on the line. Ebenezar McCoy had taken Harry in when the Council had leveled their verdict. He had taught Harry how to use his magic as well as how to be a better person. Of course, years later Harry had found out that the man who had taught him to use his magic to help others was the Blackstaff for the White Council. Ebenezar, the one wizard that was fully allowed to kill, maim, coerce, and otherwise break the laws of magic that had helped form the principles that Harry did his best to live by. When Harry had found out that his mentor had spent most of his life defying everything that he instilled in him. They hadn't spoken for a long time after that, but Harry was starting to accept that Ebenezar was still the good man that had taken him in. It wasn't painful to talk to him anymore, but what was the _Blackstaff_ of the Council doing answering phones?

"Sir? What's a Senior Council member doing answering phones? I thought that that was above your pay grade."

"It's all hands on deck, Hoss," Ebenezar said gruffly.

"No one called me," Harry said still annoyed with the Councils distrust, even after they had made him a Warden.

"Probably would have soon, but apparently you've found your own problems to deal with," Ebenezer said, nudging Harry to get to the point.

Harry ran through his encounter with Xander, he left out the fact that he had gotten information from Bob, since the White Council thought that the skull had been destroyed years ago, but told Ebenezar that he believed Xander when he told Harry he had come from another dimension.

"You shouldn't have waited Hoss," Ebenezar said tightly, Harry could pratically hear the man running a hand over his face "The Merlin's got Wardens running around like a bunch of headless chickens looking for what came through."

"Really? Xander doesn't seem like something that would get the Council up in a tizzy" Harry asked, "But then again the Merlin does like to –"

"Your boy wasn't the only thing to fall through. The Gatekeeper felt something else come through a few hours ago, but there's too much magical interference in Faerie that he can't pinpoint where. We're already trying to get some discussions started with the Sidhe courts."

"Do you really think the Sidhe are going to help the White Council? They're not exactly known for their charitable nature," Harry said sarcastically.

"Hoss, if the walls of our dimension are breaking it's bad for _everyone_ that includes Faerie," Ebenezer spoke in the firm voice he'd always used when he'd been giving Harry a lecture.

"Yeah, but that doesn't me they have to help us when they're helping themselves. They're can be selfish that way," Harry said seriously, "What do you think my next move should be? Wait for Wardens to drop by for a pick up?"

"I doubt the Merlin would to want to pull anyone off the search for the others since this boy is already in the custody of a Warden," Ebenezar said.

"I'm sure telling him that I have an Outsider in my custody would do wonders at putting him at ease," It was lace heavily with sarcasm as they both knew that that the Merlin couldn't stand Harry.

"You should get the boy to Edinburgh, before I have to get past telling him that a _Warden_ has taken custody of one of Outsiders."

"See you in Edinburgh, sir," Harry said hanging up the phone, much more gently than Xander had, but he tried to be as gentle with any technology he didn't have sights on breaking.

"That didn't sound like you were getting good news," Xander said, walking into the room still running a towel over his head. He had just taken one of the shortest, coldest showers of his life but at least he was clean.

"Apparently you weren't the only one to have come through the gates," Harry said turning to the one eyed man, "Any ideas?"

"Oh," Xander said with a small smile, "Sounds like they already sent a rescue party after me."

"You must have some pretty powerful friends if they managed to follow you into another dimension," Harry said suspiciously. Xander gave a shrug.

"They've been known to do the impossible from time to time," He said, trying for nonchalance, buffing his nails on the too big t-shirt Dresden had lent him.

"Uh huh," Dresden quite sure what to say to that, but would most definitely be watching him with an even sharper gaze, "Well, rescue party or not, whoever came after you has the White Council running up the walls."

"I have no doubt that whoever they sent has that ability. Did they come through the same place I did?" Xander asked, thinking of the snow and spiders.

"I don't know. They're having some trouble tracking them through all the magic of Faerie and we only have save passage allow certain paths and Nevernever is a big place."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, if we go off certain paths then any Fae we run into could take us out to the metaphorical wood shed and no one can say that they violated any form of the agreement we have with the Sidhe courts."

"Just to be clear, the Sidhe are those spider things?"

"Yes, but not all Sidhe look like spiders"

"Like the whole square rectangle thing," Xander said waving a hand in the air.

"Exactly, but those spiders were really more like pests as far a Sidhe go," The Wizard said before continuing on carefully, "Your friends will probably end up running into something much more dangerous if the White Council doesn't find them first."

"If those were pests I'm not sure I want to know what you consider threat," Xander said a little incredulously, "but I bet the rescue party can deal with it. They hunt demons for a living, though can you call it a living if you don't get paid?"

Harry shrugged, "It's what I do and look at the nice digs I got. Though I'm not really out hunting for things, they just end up finding me."

"You're a demon magnet." Xander said, more statement than a question, a grin forming on his face.

"Not so much demons," Dresden's mouth twisted, "but it seems that every bad guy has to pass through Chicago."

"Man, your like this dimensions version of me… a taller, scraggily, magical version of me… with two eyes." Though from the scar that ran down through the wizard's eyebrow and continued down onto his cheek, told Xander that the whole two eyes thing was probably a close call.

"Yeah," Harry said wryly looking Xander up and down, "It _is_ like looking in a mirror, one of those weird wavy ones in the fun houses."

Xander grinned at the man, shaking his head, "So, where do we go from here? As far as the whole 'end of the world' thing goes?"

"I called in. It seems that I need to get you to Edinburgh

"That's in Scotland right?"

* * *

"I just don't see why we couldn't take a plane is all I'm saying," Xander said as he and Dresden made their way through a distinctly unfriendly looking forest in the Nevernever. He was really not looking forward to the possibility of running into the talking spiders again, or any of their faerie cousins, especially since Dresden had insisted that he make the trip unarmed with the hope that Xander's presence wouldn't agitate the White Council more than necessary.

"The last time I took a plane the navigation system went out and we had to make an emergency landing in a field," Harry said, "Plus this way we'll get there in half an hour instead of 6."

"I think that flight is actually something like _ten_ hours," Xander said thoughtfully, "Yeah, not having to breath recycled plane air for ten hours pretty much makes up for having to walk through giant-spider infested forests."

Harry huffed out a small laugh. For an outsider that may or may not be causing the universe to collapse, this kid sure had a sense of humor he could get behind.

* * *

_AN: sorry, it's taken me soooo long to update. For some reason this chapter just did not want to cooperate with me and more characters just keep popping up. I really didn't mean for this story to be this long. Also, I've decided this is taking place post-Turn Coat, but pre-Changes and if you haven't read Cold Days yet you need to! It's AWESOME!_


	6. Chapter 6

_I do not own any of the rights to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'The Dresden Files' and am making no money from this story._

* * *

Dimensional Shift

Chapter Six

…..

After turning down a smaller path that was marked by an old tree stump with a pentacle carved into it's surface, Harry and Xander finally reached a large clearing. In its center was a mound, about a dozen yards across. At the center of the mound were heavy stone slabs with a lintel placed over the top, forming a darkened doorway. Wherever the doorway led it wasn't to the other side of the clearing, Xander couldn't see anything but darkness through it. Standing before the doorway was a man in a bowler hat. He wore a grey cloak and was pointing what looked like some sort of staff at them as they made their way down the path. Xander became very aware of just how unarmed he was.

"We come in peace," Dresden said in a relaxed tone that helped loosen Xander's tense nerves, but not to set him completely at ease.

"Dresden, it seems like you've decided to come round a bit more these days," The man said in a posh accent as he lowered the staff. His accent reminded Xander of the uptight tones that Wesley used to speak in, but the man's lean build and sharp cheekbones reminded Xander distinctly of Spike.

"You know that I can't resist your charms, Chandler."

"Ah, but who can? The sheer amount of style and grace I've been blessed with it's a wonder any one can stay away," Chandler said with a smile, keeping an eye on Xander all the while. The silver tipped cane that Xander had mistaken for a staff as they made their way into the clearing, was lowered but still at the ready, "Who have you brought with you, Dresden?"

"This," Harry said with a wide gesture towards Xander, "is Xander, I picked him up yesterday. McCoy told me to get him to the mothership posthaste."

"Yesterday," Chandler said slowly, looking at Xander with a great more scrutiny than he had earlier. Xander could see as the man's eyes widened slightly, and his hand tightening slightly on the stylish cane. "Trouble does tend to find you Dresden, it's a wonder you have lived this long."

"Can't argue with you there," Harry said looking beyond Chandler to the doorway, "Who's in?"

"Most of the Senior Council is in deliberation. The Gatekeeper has been out searching, no one's quite sure where. But then, I'm not sure anyone ever knows what he's doing," Chandler said giving a small shrug of his shoulder.

Dresden nodded. Then, in a very clear voice, he said with a flourish, "I seek entry to the Hidden Halls, O Warden. May I pass?"

"Be welcome to the seat of the White Council. Enter in peace and depart in peace," Chandler said with a bow and then turned his attention to Xander, who Dresden nudged with an elbow.

"Uh, I seek entry to…the hidden halls. Oh Warden, may I pass?" Xander stumbled through the request as Chandler watched him intently.

"…Be welcome to the seat of the White Council. Enter in peace and depart in peace," It sounded more of a threat than a welcome when the man spoke to Xander. Xander gave a serious nod, to show that the Warden had not been taken lightly as he followed Dresden through the doorway. It led into a dark corridor lit with torches. It took a moment for Xander to adjust before he could make out any details.

There were carvings lining either side of the walls, could only assume were depicting old battles and Xander would bet some of them were wards; he could almost feel the thrum of power running through the place. They only walked about 100 yards before they reached a checkpoint, a wrought iron gate with another grey-cloaked Warden standing guard. There were stone dogs on either side of the gate. They looked very similar to the foo dog statues that Xander had seen throughout his journeys in China and in pretty much every Chinese restaurant he had ever been to. They also had the distinct effect of creeping Xander right the hell out and that was before they turned there heads to look at him with a rumbling growl that sounded like gravel going through a rock tumbler. Though, that would make sense seeing as they were _made_ of rock.

"What _are_ those?" Xander asked backing away and feeling extremely uncomfortable without a weapon.

"Magical stone guard dogs," Harry said quickly, seeming pretty thrown by the dogs too; he had his staff up defensively in front of him, "I'm guessing you set them off."

The young Warden standing guard at the gate shouted something in a language that Xander couldn't understand, brandishing his staff in front of him.

"Whoa, hey we're being completely non-violent," Dresden said raising his hands slowly into the universal sign of surrender, Xander copied the movement just as slowly. The man didn't seem to understand what Dresden had said and barked out another string of words. Xander kept silent while Dresden frowned and said something back in what sounded like it might be the same language, but the way Dresden spoke sounded stilted and garbled and slow. Slow enough that Xander actually managed to catch a word or two.

"Wait, are you speaking_ Latin_?" Xander asked before he could think better of it. The guard turned his attention over to Xander, the staff still at the ready. Xander had to curb the instinct to fall back to find some sort of cover (not that there was any in the endless stone hallway), without his ax he was definitely getting twitchy.

"Xander, you need to be quiet," Harry said tensely. Xander's mouth shut with an audible clack as Dresden continued to speak to the guard in stilted Latin. There were more people in grey robes moving swiftly down the hallway, Xander really didn't like where this all was heading, but continued to stay as still as humanly possible. There was some more angry language before an older looking man in a dark robe pushed his way through the crowd.

The man made a gestured at the dogs that were still growling in Xander's direction, "Heel." The two stone dogs sat down and became unmoving stone once more. "What's going on here?" He had a gruff voice that brooked no guff, "What've you got yourself into this time Hoss?"

"Sir, this is Xander. You told me to get him over here A.S.A.P. He set the dogs off," Dresden said in a forced calm.

"Huh," Ebenezar moved forward with a sureness that was generally only seen in people that knew their way around a fight. He stopped about a foot and a half short of Xander and looked directly into the younger man's eye. Xander took in the man [mud-brown] eyes for only a moment before there was a dizzy rush as if he was falling.

The next thing Xander knew he was standing in a field, watching a man planting seeds in a long row and pulling out thistles and weeds as he went down the row. It was the same man that had just walked up to him in the hallway; Xander could see cuts lining his hands where thorns had bitten into his hands as he pulled the weeds. Large portions of the garden were overgrown and more weeds popped up even as the man moved away to plant more seeds. The man let out an exasperated growl and turned back to pull out weeds from the same area he had just left. Xander noticed a patch of earth filled with dead plants. The soil there looked black and oily. Xander wasn't an expert at gardening, but he doubted that that was normal and wondered just what was wrong with that spot, when there were strong looking plants growing not near by. But, as he looked closer, he realized that the soil wasn't filled with oil. It was blood and the plants weren't just dead, they were charred; black hunks of cinder. Xander thought he could make out outlines of bones in the dirt near the roots, they were too big to be from an animal. He jerked backwards and was just opening his mouth to ask the gardener what was going on when there was another rush and he was back in the hallway filled with angry looking wizards, still standing in front of the old man whose eyes shined like flint, sharp and always ready to start a fire.

"You find all the interesting ones," Ebenezar said turning his gaze from Xander to Harry.

"What the _Hell _was that!?" Xander asked

…...

Titania was seated on a chair that looked as if it had grown straight out of the ground and might have actually been a living thing; the seatback had bright green leaves sprouting up in strange swirling patterns along the edges. Faith, Kathy and Matt were all seated on moss covered stone benches that were way more comfortable than, what basically amounted to glorified boulders, should be.

"You will be silent," The Queen said with a glance in Matt's direction; he'd just made yet another idiotic comment about the Fairies in some fantasy game he had played. Matt's voice curled back into his throat with a yelp. His mouth opened and closed, but his eyes widened as no sounds came out. Faith tensed up, gritting her teeth in anger. She may have been happy for the kid to shut up but he'd been travelling with _her_ and, as far as Faith was concerned, _she_ was the only one who was allowed to shut the annoying wizard up

The Queen looked at Faith with a serene expression. It made Faith want to say sorry for being angry, it also made her want to punch the bitch in the face for messing with her head. Her hand clenched for the handle of the sword that she no longer held; their weapons had been taken practically as soon as the queen had shown up. Faith was **not** going to let that go.

"I thought that you wanted to help us find our friend," Faith said angrily, her hand still clenched tightly.

"Of course I do," Titania answered Faith, folding her hands over her lap, a small smile on her face, "but your companion's voice is quite… irritating. Now, we may continue our conversation without any further annoyances. Have no undue fear, what I have done is not permanent."

Faith didn't reply. It had taken years (a couple of those in prison), but Faith had learned how to keep her mouth shut despite her temper… mostly.

"You say that you came here with the intention of retrieving your friend, how were you intending to find him?" Titania resumed the earlier conversation as though there had been no interruptions.

"We were using a tracking charm," Faith said, "but we ran into your friends before we got too far."

"Ah, yes. You should be grateful that it was not another who found you. Had you been found by a scion of Winter your treatment would have been far less gentle.

"So, why are you being so _nice_," Kathy asked doing her best to come off as tough, but not really succeeding. Queen Titania looked to the younger slayer. It wasn't the sharp one she had sent to Matt, it was soft, like the one she'd given Faith. Unfortunately, Kathy didn't have the experience Faith did at fighting mental manipulations. The older slayer could practically _feel_ Kathy beginning to swoon for the faerie queen, there was the beginning of honest to god adoration in Kathy's eyes.

"Have you given me a reason not to?" Titania responded with the question so charmingly that they missed the fact that she didn't answer actually the question. Titania was throwing so much charm out there that Faith could almost forget that the Queen had just thrown some sort of spell over Matt.

Before anyone could add anything else to the conversation, another faerie appeared at the Queen's side and took her attention. This one looked mostly human, if you ignored the fact that he had goat legs and purple hair.

"My Queen," the goat man said with a deep bow, "the White Council has requested aid in locating Outsiders that have entered your lands."

The Summer Queen turned back to the three of them speculatively for a moment before giving a small, graceful wave of her hand, "Sending an emissary to begin discourse with the White Council would not be untoward. Go to them, but do not give the wizards any promise of our aid."

"Of course, my Queen," the goat man gave another deep bow, his forehead stopping just short of the ground and then hurried away as quickly as he had appeared. Titania gave the two slayers and the still silenced warlock a small smile.

"It seems that there are others that wish to meet you."

Faith really wasn't liking the sound of a Council of wizards looking for them, as if faeries weren't bad enough. After they got out of this whole mess, Xander was going to owe her big.

…...

Xander had had a pair of rune-covered handcuffs slapped on him and then been escorted to some dark room. Its walls were stone like the rest of what he had seen of the headquarters. The only light in the room streamed through the small barred window that had been cut into the solid wooden door. There was no handle on the inside of the door and Xander couldn't feel any of the hinges along inside. The door itself was a true work of craftsmanship and Xander would put down money that even a slayer had little chance of breaking that baby down. Turning away from the door, Xander could just make out the outlines of chains hanging from the walls. Xander mentally revised 'room' to 'dungeon'.

"Wow," Xander muttered to himself, "they sure don't make 'em like _this_ anymore."

He really wasn't looking forward to meeting any more of the senior council. From what Dresden had told him they weren't the most accepting of people and, judging from the decor of his current accommodation, he really doubted he would like what would happen if they got the wrong idea of him.

…..

"You trusted _Dresden_ with the Outsider?" Arthur Langtry, the current Merlin of the White Council asked Ebenezar. He spoke in the standard latin used by the White Council. He was well on the way to furious, but was doing his best to appear calm; it wouldn't do for someone of the _Merlin_'s rank to appear not in control of himself.

The Senior Council had all gathered in the private chambers, with the exception of Rashid, the Gatekeeper, who was still out with no way of contacting him, to discuss what was to be done with one, Xander Harris.

"He is a Warden of the White Council and he informed me that he had the Outsider safely in custody," McCoy said calmly, "I didn't want to interrupt the search for the other Outsiders that have come through."

"And you told him to bring it here? To the very heart of the White Council?" Ancient Mai asked severely. Ancient Mai probably didn't look too threatening to those who didn't know her, dressed in a delicate white kimono under her ceremonial black robe and purple stole, her hair held in an intricate style with elegant ivory hairpins. Over 400 years old, she was small, fragile looking and wrinkled, but Ebenezar had seen her take down more than her fair share of vampires and power hungry warlocks alike with little effort and was most definitely _not_ to be taken lightly.

"Warden Dresden was sure that the boy wasn't a threat. I trust his judgment." Ebenezar had always been adamant in his confidence of Harry, now wasn't any different.

"Dresden has not always been a good judge of character in the past, or have you forgotten that so very recently he was deceived into aiding a _murderer_? Why should you trust him with what may be a demon? Are we to believe demons are incapable of deceit as well? I think that your feelings cloud your judgment Wizard McCoy," Gregori Cristo said coldly. Cristo had taken his mentor's place on the Senior Council after the man had been murdered. A warden named Donald Morgan had been found standing over the dead man's body and had run before the Council could capture him. Morgan had run straight to Harry and convinced him to help in proving his innocence to the White Council. The man really _was_ innocent and Harry had managed to root out the real killer, but with council politics, that hadn't mattered. In the end and warden Morgan had gone down as a traitor who had managed to dupe another warden into helping him.

"The Outsider is human," McCoy said firmly, "Dresden has had to deal with enough demons to know the difference."

"He has been soul gazed to prove this?" Martha Liberty asked reasonably, she was one of the few allies that Ebenezar had on the council.

"I performed the gaze myself," Ebenezar said with a nod, "The boy may be an Outsider, but he's also human with an unpolluted soul. Unless you think my judgment of that is clouded too!" The last was directed toward Cristo.

"Human or not the fact is, he is a being from beyond the Outer Gates and is a threat to this world merely by arriving here," the Merlin said soberly, "More arrived after him, who knows if there will be more to follow? It is best we question him now, see what he knows."

"How are we to know that it wasn't Dresden himself that opened up the way to them? After all, he managed to _accidently_ come upon what an entire troupe of Wardens have been searching for unsuccessfully?" Cristo asked almost belligerently.

"It would not be the first time the He has managed to fall straight into a problem," Ebenezar grumbled.

"That does not add any points in his favor!"

"We must all calm down!" Injun Joe said , "Ebenezar, you gazed him. Do you think he would willingly submit to questioning?

"Aye, from what Warden Dresden has told me Xander Harris has been nothing but obliging and, from what I saw of his soul, he'll always help those in need and I think that the world is pretty close to being in _need._"

The Merlin opened his mouth to respond to McCoy, when a knock came from the door. He glanced to the door and then back to McCoy, obviously intending to ignore it as he opened his mouth once more.

Another knock came from the door.

"There may be news of importance," Mai said.

Merlin strode to the door and wrenched it open his mouth clinched in a frown.

"What? I told you we were not to be disturbed," He said, anger marring his face enough that the warden just stared at him with wide eyes for a moment until the Merlin gestured impatiently for him to continue with his hand.

"An emissary from the Summer Court is requesting an audience," The warden was looking anxious as he delivered the news to the Merlin. The kid couldn't have been more than eighteen, one of the new recruits during the war against the Red Court vampires. He wasn't anywhere close to battle hardened, but with how the war was going that would only take a few more months or…

The White Council had already racked up a long list of casualties.

"Where is the emissary now?" Langtry asked

"He – He's waiting outside of the doorway in the Nevernever," the warden trying his best to sound sure of himself and not nearly succeeding.

"Good, at least the wardens have the sense not to let untested parties into the halls of the White Council," the Merlin said with a sharp glance towards McCoy.

"Of course, Sir," The warden said, clearly not picking up on the byplay between the two older wizards, "What should I tell Captain Luccio?"

"We will be along momentarily. I hope I can rely on Luccio not to start a war with the Summer Court in the mean time,"

"Of course!" the kid gave a bow on his way back out of the room, a _bow_! As if Arthur Langrty really needed another boost to his ego, Ebenezar only just managed not to roll his eyes.

"I elect we move the outsider to a larger space so that we may question him. All those that agree?" The Langtry said, calling a vote. No one hesitated in gaving the affirmative.

"Then we are in agreement," The Merlin nodded, "Now, I shall greet the Summer emissary myself and join you after, for the questioning of the outsider." With that Arthur Langry, Merlin of the White Council, leader of the most powerful wizards in the world, strode out of the room, his lavish black robes swirling in his wake. Pretentious bastard. If it weren't for politics there would be no reason not to tell the man _exactly _what Ebenezar thought of him, but he needed to keep a good position in the council if he wanted to get anything done. Ebenezar hated politics.

….

* * *

_AN: I had some trouble writing the soulgaze, hope it wasn't too lame._


End file.
